Vegan Grits Pudding (Grits Payasam)

This story is from 11 years ago. My in-laws were visiting us for 3 plus months. I was in grad school then. To kill time, they would rent Ramayan and Mahabharath dvds and watch them. They had already watched all of them on TV in India. This was not the first time they were watching it. One day, I came home from school and my mother in law told me to make some sweet. Why? Because they saw Seetha's wedding. I was shocked and didn't know what to say. I was newly married at that time and had no clue how to react, so just made something. If someone says the same today, scene would be different. It is always good to have some quick dishes to whip up for situations like that. This one falls in that category.

There are some things that cannot be made to look pretty. At least, I don't have the education or talent to do so. This is one such food that I did not understand how to take a picture of. But, since this is an easy dessert that can be made in a jiffy (read unexpected guests for dinner or the situation like above), I am posting it anyway. This is the same as rava or broken wheat pudding but uses grits which do not need any dry roasting. I made this vegan just because I had to use up the oats and cashews milk that I had made the other day.

One year back -  Cookies roundup
Ingredients:
Quick cooking grits - 1/2 cup (not instant)
Water - 1 - 2 cups (See Notes)
Vegan milk - 4 cups (I used homemade oats and Cashews milk) - See Notes
Sugar - 1 cup
Cardamom - 5 pods crushed into powder
Cashes - 3 TBSP
Raisins - 3 TBSP
Saffron - few strands (optional)

Method:
In a pan, heat the vegan milk of your choice or plain milk if not for a vegan version. When hot, add grits and start stirring so that it doesn't stick to the pan and burn. When the grits had cooked completely, add the water depending on how thick it has become. I added 1 cup since I wanted it to be a thick pudding. Add sugar, cardamom powder and saffron strands if using. Add the raisins and stir. Lower the heat and let it simmer for a few minutes. Meanwhile, in a skillet, dry roast the cashews. Add them to the pudding and mix well. Turn off the heat and serve warm or room temperature or cold.

Notes:
Since I used the Oats and Cashews milk, I had to add a lot more liquid. That is because of the oats in the milk which made it a very thick one. If using regular milk or soy milk, you might not need any extra water at all. Just 4 cups is plenty and might even make it a bit thinner. If making with regular milk, you can toast the cashews and raisins in about 2 TBSP of ghee and add.

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